Mumbai: ATMs could be without cash for next 24 hours

For the next 24 hours, do not expect ATMs to dispense cash as most private and nationalised banks received very little or no cash from the currency chest on Saturday

Representation pic

For the next 24 hours, do not expect ATMs to dispense cash as most private and nationalised banks received very little or no cash from the currency chest on Saturday. In fact, the cash availability at most private bank branches had dried up by Saturday afternoon. “We will have to wait for cash vans to load the cash in ATMs and branches, which will happen only on Monday. Hopefully, by the second half of the day, a few ATMs will be refilled,” said a senior bank officer from ICICI bank.

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While most of the nationalised banks have sufficient funds for disbursement, the situation appears grim for private and cooperative banks, who haven’t been getting adequate funds to meet their daily demand. SL Ghaywat, branch manager of Thane District Cooperative Banks, said, “We have shut all our ATMs because of insufficient funds. At the Padgha branch, we need at least Rs 50 lakh a day on an average, but we end up getting only Rs 2 - Rs 3 lakh. Moreover, we are only getting it in Rs 2000 notes.”

The situation with nationalised banks, however, was different. A senior bank official from Bank of India said although they had not received funds on Saturday, they had enough cash to meet their customers’ demand, but all in Rs 2,000 notes. “We also have smaller denominations of Rs 100, Rs 50 and Rs 20, but in very small numbers, which is not enough to meet our daily requirement,” he said.

Also read: Long queues at banks, ATMs on first pay day after demonetisation

A senior official from a cash management company revealed that they had received only 40 per cent of their daily collection from the currency chest for various banks. “No cash collection takes place on Sunday. So, only by Monday morning will we be able to collect the cash and hand it over to the branches,” he said.

A spokesperson from the RBI, however, said there was no reason for panic as enough cash was available at banks. A banking expert hinted that the situation might continue until the beginning of next year.

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